UToledo Lake Erie Center

Tentative Program Timeline

Date  Program Activity and Events
Feb 13  Applications due from prospective students
March 11  Acceptance letters emailed (likely before this date)
March 21  Commitment letters from prospective students due;
 Waiting list students notified
Week 1;
 May 31-June 3

 Orientation week, site visits, group bonding experience

  • May 31: Dorm move in day
  • June 1: Meet & Greet, pre-program survey, program overview, Lake Erie shoreline field trip
  • June 2-3: Field trips including terrestrial system, aquatic system, and boat trip
  • June 3: Project planning with REU students, graduate student mentors & faculty mentors
Weeks 2-8;
 June 6-
 July 16
 

Data collection and weekly workshops to build research skills

>Students work in research labs or in the field with faculty and graduate student mentors
>Wed. 12 pm each week: REU luncheon for all team members at the Lake Erie Center
>Wed. 1 pm each week, all REU team members: REU students give update on their progress; a graduate student mentor gives a short presentation on their thesis research 
>Wed. 2-4:30 pm each week: Joint project mentoring on the following topics, presented by a different faculty mentor each week.

  • Week 2: Developing hypotheses, conducting literature reviews; brief tour LEC research labs
  • Week 3: Experimental design; Cultural Experiences Icebreaker
  • Week 4: Resumé writing, job interview skills, and STEM career panel
  • Week 5: Data analysis 
  • Week 6: Writing a scientific paper
  • Week 7: Giving effective oral and poster presentations
  • Week 8: Graduate school Q&A panel with faculty and graduate student mentors
Week 9;
 July 25-29
  • REU student project data analyses workshops led by graduate student mentors
  • Poster presentation & paper writing help sessions
Week 10;
 Aug 1-5
  • REU student poster show & reception for faculty, students, agency personnel, community partners, visitors (Wednesday, August 3)
  • REU student papers due Friday, August 5
  • End of program evaluation exit survey Friday noon
Following Academic Year Monthly, virtual mentoring sessions for REU students led by a faculty and graduate student mentor, focused on preparing REU students’ papers for publication in peer-reviewed journals
2020-2023  Annual tracking of REU students, publications, output, careers
Last Updated: 7/15/24